legallybrunette23 '23–'24

ALRIGHT, CYCLE COMPLETE! I cannot wait to start my legal education at YLS!

This cycle went way better than I could have ever imagined (now wishing I didn’t waste so much money on application fees lol). I don’t know if my application advice will be helpful, because who knows what about my application worked well, but some pointers that I think could help others are:
Begin working on applications early. There are way more components to an application than your LSAT score and GPA (although those are obvi important). I would recommend choosing your schools, then tackling your personal statement, then working on other required and optional essays.- Do the optional essays if you can. I know lots of people talk about yield protection and getting waitlisted at “worse” schools than they think they deserve (although I think this mindset is ugly). Honestly, best way to prevent this is to show interest in the schools, so write all the optional essays you can. I found it helpful to have a template essay I used for common optionals (a structure for a Why X essay or a leadership prompt, etc.).

• Stay organized. When you choose a school to apply to, review the application requirements in full and create some way of monitoring the requirements for all your applications. I also recommend organizing your time working on applications. It is very daunting when you look at your to-do list and it has 80 essays on it, so instead sculpt out an hour everyday and the to-do list will get shorter.
• Be authentic in interviews. I was kind of weird in all of my interviews, but being yourself is always better than trying to be “more impressive” or “smarter.” Prepare a little bit ahead of each interview and then just go do your best. They are interviewing you because they like you!
• TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! Go on a walk, spend time with your friends, and remember you deserve kindness. This process gets pretty all consuming, no matter how it goes, so prioritize building habits that make you feel good.

P.S. Make sure you thank the people in your life who help you throughout the process. They are champs for just listening to you ramble about admissions all the time.

legallybrunette23 out! xoxo